Darden Restaurants experienced a 5% drop in premarket trading after reporting first-quarter earnings that narrowly missed Wall Street expectations. The company reported earnings per share of $2.05 on revenue of $3.20 billion, slightly below the anticipated $2.06 per share and $3.21 billion respectively. While overall sales increased by 5.1% to $3.2 billion, the slowdown in Olive Garden's same-store sales growth to 1.1% weighed on performance, despite strong growth from LongHorn Steakhouse at 6.2%. Darden reiterated its full fiscal 2027 guidance, projecting total sales between $13.60 billion and $13.75 billion and net EPS of $11.10 to $11.35.
Conversely, Stitch Fix saw its shares plunge 17.0% in after-hours trading following a disappointing revenue outlook for fiscal year 2027. Although the company reported a narrower-than-expected loss of $0.02 per share for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, with revenue of $324.42 million just under forecasts, the weak forward guidance overshadowed these results. Stitch Fix projected first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue between $323 million and $328 million, significantly below analyst estimates of approximately $355 million, and full-year fiscal 2027 revenue of $1.31 billion to $1.36 billion, compared to expectations of roughly $1.41 billion.
The decline in Stitch Fix's active clients, which decreased by 1.4% to 2.277 million, further exacerbated investor concerns about the company's growth prospects. Additionally, insider selling activities over the past six months, with 20 open-market sales and no corresponding purchases, may have contributed to a lack of investor confidence. The stock's drop to $2.34 followed an earlier 5% decline during regular trading hours, making it a company-specific event as broader market indices remained largely flat.
